More staycations for Malagueños

FOR many of the inhabitants of the Axarquia and Malaga Province, their summer holiday destination will be – Malaga.

Approximately 22 per cent fewer will travel abroad or go to other parts of Spain, local travel agents believe.

Although travellers who make their own bookings over the internet account for part of the fall in ticket and hotel reservations, the crisis is taking its toll.

“The middle classes who went away each summer have disappeared,” explained Joaquin Fernandez, regional vice-president of travel agents’ association AEDAV.

Purchasing power was reduced and people were tending to use their own cars, not aeroplanes, Fernandez said. Some Malagueños would set out for coastal resorts not too far from home, he predicted.

Chiclana, Huelva, Almeria and southern Portugal are likely destinations, with Benidorm the furthest afield many will be prepared to go.

Cruises are another option, according to Joaquin Fernandez. Prices are likely to fall because companies have to fill their ships to break even.

“Some of the prices – €600 for seven nights, for instance – can work out cheaper than staying at home,” he argued